About that permanent travel souvenir

Stories of people who went places and got memories etched on their skin

Photographs can fade, fridge magnets can break but a tattoo will always remain with you. Here are six interesting tattoos and the stories behind them:

The world on my back

“Staring at a map of China one September afternoon at a coffee shop in Kunming (Yunnan province), I decided to get a map of the world on my back and fill it up as I travel. Sort of like a journal on my back. I called my favourite artist in Hong Kong and we discussed the layout: cartography is a science and there are many ways to draw a map. A tattoo this big means long hours for the artist and a lot of pain for me. Will it all be filled before I die? Probably not. Right now, I’m focusing on seeing the world (and visiting the artist on my birthday to have it filled for the year that has been). It’s the best gift I can give myself.” Ron Roy, finance professional, Hong Kong

The tattoo that left the tribe

“I was in Wellington, New Zealand on an artist-in-residence programme. After seeing tattoos on my arms, a Maori guy who happened to be a tattoo artist, gave me some tattoos on my legs. It was so painful that when he went along the shin bone, I stopped breathing. When he did see me squinting, I remember him saying, “That’s why they call me ‘The Slash’ ”. Instead of money, I sent him one of my drawings. He said I was the only white guy to have a tattoo of his tribe’s pattern.” Dave Besseling, Deputy Editor, GQ India, Mumbai

The tattoos from around the world

“I got my first tattoo—a pixie perched on my shoulder—while on a holiday with a couple of girlfriends to Bangkok. I was young and reckless and felt like I could do anything. And there the addiction began…

A couple of years later, while bar hopping in Goa with my best friend, we spontaneously got matching shooting stars on the napes of our necks.

Then in 2008, my dad passed away while I was a student in Australia. It was a tough time for my family, and made me realise how amazing my mum is–a strong dedicated mother, wife, friend as well as driven in her career. So I got her name–Penelope–entwined with a grapevine, tattooed on my side.

I get married in January and our honeymoon will be in Japan, where I want to get a pair of koi fish positioned head to tail like the yin yang symbol, with my wedding date inscribed alongside. Again, marking another chapter in my life, another destination discovered.” Meagan Abraham, Manager, Brown Brothers Wines Milawa, Australia

Aching for elsewhere

“I was working in London when I took some time off from my corporate job to travel to Iceland and then Mexico. When I came back, the decision to quit and travel had already been made. It was no longer a choice. So I got the word ‘fernweh’ tattooed on my ribs, which is a German word that means the opposite of homesick. There’s no English equivalent but it can loosely be translated to ‘a pain to be in distant places’. Similar to wanderlust, but unlike the happy connotations of that word, there’s more intensity and pain in this one.” Siddharth Munjal, independent meditation practitioner, Delhi

One of the pals

“At 16, after spending 10 years in California, I moved back to India in 2000. Back then, it was hard to keep in touch with friends–we didn’t have social media, email wasn’t as widely used. I was also trying to accept a new country and culture at an age when you’re not sure who you are. So I was always happy to hear from my friends when they wrote me letters. The smell of paper, it made me happy. All these years later, I don’t remember that smell, but I remember that feeling. To mark that, I inked ‘Living in your letters’ on the side of my foot by myself. It was my fourth tattoo and I was still learning how to hold the gun.” Arpitha Vijaya, tattoo artist, Bengaluru

The tattoo that held up a flight

“I was in Mumbai on a work trip and had this intense need to get a second tattoo. Because, like it’s said, you can never stop at one tattoo. When they finished inking me, I realised that I wanted to get these tribal dots on my chin. The artist was a little taken aback that I wanted a tattoo on my face on an impulse. But he did them for me anyway. I was in a rush to make it to my flight, and was the last person to board that day. Everyone was wondering whom the flight was waiting for. It was only after I made it to my seat that I saw my tattooed chin for the first time. My only complaint–I wish the dots had been bolder.” Atika Gupta, communications professional, Delhi